Improved apparatus for tanning



PATENTED OCT. 3, 1865.

G. R. DEAN.

APPARATUS FOR TANNINQ m: annals Firms :0. Puma-Lima. wumnmcm. u, c.

UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

CHARLES R. DEAN, or RANDOLPH, NEW YORK.

' IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR TANNING.-

Specification forming part of Letters Patent lid 50,228, dated -'Octol1er 3, 1865.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it-known that I, CHARLES It. DEAN, of

Randolph, in the county of Oattaraugus, in.

the State of New York, have invented an Improved Process of Tanning by the use of a hollow cylinder with compartments, as hereinafter described; and I do hereby declare that ,the

following is a full and exact description there i of, reference being had, to the accompanying drawings and to the letters ofreference marked .t thereon, the same letters representingcorrethe utilization of nearly all the tannic acid,

and the production from a givenquantity of -hides of a greater amount of. leather than is obtained by the usual process of tanning.

'I am thoroughly tanning slaughter-leather in from four to six weeks by this process. The hides during the process of tanning require hauling but every few times. 7 By my process the tannic acid is so rapidly united with the gelatine' of the hide that time is not afforded forthe conversion of it into gallic acid.

In the usual process of tanning much of the gelatine is dissolved and lost, while by my process almost the whole of it is chemically combined'with the .tannic acid, thereb; flwflilng in theyield of leather t 'ellllfl1 1:0 the amount f mi e o herwise lost and the tannioacru whlch will combine with it. 1 k To epable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed more fully to describe its construction and operation.

I 1 construct my vat in the usualmanner'witlf level or curved bottom, with or without a tightfitting cover. I then construct a hollow cylin-- I der or cylindrical wheel of size as large as may be and turn readily within the vat, yet to be wholly or nearly immersed in the liquor with which the vat is to be filled. I divide the interior of the wheel by partitions into compartments. In my practiceI prefer that the numpartments in which they are placed. The par- -titions run lengthwise in the wheel, and reach from the axis to the circumference, making the compartments triangular in shape. The cylindrical wheel may be replaced by an equivalent,

prismatic or prismoidal in form, with coin part ments, .as described, but I prefer the cylindrical form. The ends ot'-the wheel are made of wood or other fitting material, and should be strong, to receive the application of power by means of ratchets, gearing, or otherwise.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a top view of the wheel. Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal section of the wheel cut through the line a: w of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 represents a crosssection of the wheel cut through the line :1 y of Fig. 1.

The sides of the vat in which the wheel is placed are shown etc o. The axis of the wheel on-which it turns within the vat is shown at a. The slats in the circumference of the wheel, and forming the sides ofthe compartments, are shown in the various figures at s s s, &c. The circumference of the wheel on one side, or both if necessary,is furnished with ratchets, (shown in the longitudinal section, Fig. 2, and in Fig. 1, at r r r, 850.) is to enable the whole wheel, when filled, to be gradually and regularly turned onits axis within the vat by means of power applied to the ratchets in succession.

Each of the compartments of the wheel is provided with an aperture or man-hole embracing several of the slats in the circumference fastened together so that they can be removed and replaced readily and secured to the circumference when in place by means of buttons or otherwise. The buttons by which these doors are secured are shown at b b.

The apertures should be'made of sufficient width to enable .the workmanto fill the compartments readily with hides and to remove the hides from the various compartments through them. Each compartment requires but one man-hole. The cylindrical wheel thus formed is placed in the vat, securely fastened on its axis,

The object of these ratchetsso that it will readily and freely turn thereon.

The vat is then'fille d with liquor, and hides not ,crowdedin ea ch compartment. Then, by means of power applied to the wheel the 'whole is slowly and regularly turned within the vat.

This causes the hides to move among themselves and within the ooze.

In practice I usually do not allow the liquor to cover the upper surface of the wheel, because of the convenience of opening and closing the doors when asmall port-ionof the wheel is exposed.

The wheel constructed as above described may also be us'ed'in a vat wholly inclosed and in which the liquor is subjected to pressure. In thiscaseI prefer to applythe power through v the cover of the vat by means ef a piston-rod through stufiingbox I also make use of the same form of cylindrical wheel with compartto secure by Letters Patent, 18-- .The eonstructionof a hollow cylinder, orits equivalent, with slats or their equivalent and compartments, and the application thereof in the process of tanning, substantially as above described.

OHA'JS. B. DEAN.

Witnesses:

E. MQMANUS, L. Dow. 

